Sen Peters Announces Retirement

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters will not be seeking a third term in 2026, he announced this morning.

Peters said he’s retiring from Congress, but not from public life, in a video posted online. He said he hopes to spend more time with his family, including his newborn first grandchild.

“At this point in my life, I have been able to write many different chapters, and I look forward to the new ones with both anticipation and excitement,” Peters said in the video. “The most important chapter in my life is still a work in progress. It is one that I cherish every day. I’m a husband, father and now a new grandfather.”

Peters, who first won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2008 and served there until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2014, will open the second competitive race for a Michigan U.S. Senate seat in two years, following the retirement of former Sen. Debbie Stabenow last year.

It also will mean an extraordinarily rare Michigan election cycle with open seats for governor and U.S. Senate and again give Republicans a huge opportunity to win a U.S. Senate race in Michigan for the first time since 1994.

Newly elected U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) will become the state’s senior senator upon Peters’ retirement.

Prior to serving in Congress, Peters served in the Michigan Senate from 1995-2002.

Peters, who at age 66 is relatively young for a U.S. Senator, said in the video he’s always viewed service in Congress as temporary.

“My service in the Congress has been the honor of my life. It has been a humbling responsibility given to me by the voters of the state that I love, I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to serve, and I believe my work has left our country a better place,” he said. “When I was first elected to Congress in 2008, I always knew there would come a time to pass the torch to the next generation of public servants and allow them the opportunity to bring fresh energy and ideas to our nation’s capital. Our founding fathers envisioned members of Congress as citizens serving their country for a few terms and then returning to private life. I agree, after three terms in the house and two terms in the Senate. I believe now it’s time for me to write a few more paragraphs in my current chapter and then turn over the reins.”